


He's Out There

by supersoldierskywalker



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), im sad, t hanos is a bitch and i hate him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 18:12:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16372565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supersoldierskywalker/pseuds/supersoldierskywalker
Summary: Sam is out there. Somewhere. Steve just has to find him.He has to.





	He's Out There

_Sam is somewhere out there,_ Steve assures himself. _It’s a big forest. We just have to find him._

They comb the forest, spreading out in a line formation from north to south, picking their way slowly through the brush. Sometimes Steve can hear a stifled sob. Sometimes he finds his teammates sitting against a tree, staring at nothing. He doesn’t bother them. They need time to process. They all do.

They find nothing, no one in the forest. Okoye leaves then, saying that she needs to check on the princess. Her posture is rigid and her eyes are misty, and she’s got a death grip on her spear, so much so that Steve almost thinks she’ll snap it in half.

_We’ll try again,_ Steve thinks. _We just didn't cover all the forest. We’ll find him this time._

They do it again, from east to west this time. They lose Rocket an hour in. He scampers up a tree and disappears in the dense green leaves. No one knows when, or if, he’ll come back.

The sun is setting on the horizon when they start their search for the third time. Visibility is lowering, and Natasha says as much, and she tries to compose herself, but her eyes are red and her knuckles are bruised and bloody like she’s been punching something. Steve tells her to go, she needs the rest. Says the same to Bruce, who’s been quiet the whole time, quiet like he used to be, nervous, wringing his hands, making himself as small as possible.

Thor flies off sometime between the third and fourth search, doesn’t say a word, but later that night some surviving Wakandans will swear they hear thunder crackling and the shouts and screams of a wounded man.

Soon it’s just Steve and Rhodey and it’s night, pitch black, and the trees are strangely quiet. The moon is covered by clouds, and even the stars seem to shimmer less brightly, like they’ve dulled, like half of them have flickered out.

"I can’t see a thing,” Rhodey says as they make their way through the forest.

Steve says nothing, just whacks a branch out of his way.

“Steve…at some point, we have to consider…”

“NO.” The word comes out in a desperate, strangled shout, startling some birds in a nearby tree. The beating of their wings echoes throughout the silent forest. “No. No. I can’t. He’s alive. I know it. I just have to find him.”

Rhodey grabs his arm, forcing him to stop and turn around. “We’ve been at this for hours." His voice shakes, and he doesn't try to hide it. "I don’t want to believe it any more than you do, but—”

“No! Sam’s out there somewhere, alone, and I—he’s not—he’s not—” Steve can’t bring himself to say the last word, and all of a sudden he’s exhausted. His legs give out, and he half-falls to the dirt, closes his eyes, slumps over. He’s tired, just so tired, tired of existing.

Rhodey slides to the ground next to him and gives a long, tired sigh, burying his face in his hands. They stay there with each other for a while, not bothering to hold back their tears.

**Author's Note:**

> im sad


End file.
